Slopestyle snowboarding is a winter sport of the freestyle discipline in which athletes on a snowboard ride on a course with different types of obstacles. The primary focus on slopestyle is more on the technical aspects rather than on speed.
The main form of obstacles used are rails and jumps. There are several types of rails that are used of which the five most common types are: straight rail, rainbow rail, up-flat-down rail, flat-down handrail, and flat-down-flat-down handrail.
The tricks that athletes perform in slopestyle competitions fall into four main categories, which are spins, flips, grinds, and grabs.
In competitions, each athlete completes the course individually. Each run is judged by a panel of judges. The runs are judged based on four major factors, heights reached in each jump, degree of difficulty of each trick performed, execution of each trick, and the overall style.
Competitions are conducted in a rounds format in which competitors with the lowest points are eliminated in each round until the final round in which the medal winners are decided.
Slopestyle snowboarding became an Olympic event at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia
Similar Sports
- Slopestyle Skiing — athletes on skis perform on a course with different types of obstacles.
- Slopestyle — involves skiing or snowboarding down a course of obstacles.
- Snowboarding — involves descending on a slope covered in snow using a single board attached to both feet.
- Freestyle Snowboarding — competitors ride on the snowboard and do the tricks along with descending on the snow-covered slopes to earn maximum scores.
- Boardercross (Snowboard Cross) — a downhill snowboard race on a course similar to motocross.